Of the many success stories in Tottenham’s hugely impressive season, it is probably Mauricio Pochettino’s first-choice full-backs who have improved the most. Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Liverpool, however, showed an area where they must improve.
Kyle Walker and Danny Rose were previously considered in a similar manner: good physically, but dodgy defensively. Right-back Walker’s power and stamina have rarely been questioned, but he continually found himself too high up the pitch, allowing opposition left-wingers space to exploit. Rose, more notable for his sheer speed, had a similar problem.
Neither have looked defensively suspect this season, however. It clearly helps that these full-backs are playing either side of the division’s best centre-back combination, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld, but Walker’s positioning has improved dramatically.
Rose has become dominant in one-vs-one situations out wide, to the extent that his defending is now arguably better than his attacking.
Defensive attackers
Full-backs' contribution to passing moves shouldn’t be overlooked. The Premier League’s best technical full-backs are as comfortable as midfielders on the ball
What the duo still lack, however, is an area often overlooked when assessing a full-back’s game: passing. This is an era where every other player is judged heavily upon their distribution quality – forwards are tasked with dropping deep and linking the play, while goalkeepers must be comfortable on the ball and capable of starting attacks from the back.
Full-backs, however, are rarely considered in these terms. Their job is predominantly about energy, and explosive overlapping down the flanks – but their contribution to passing moves shouldn’t be overlooked. The Premier League’s best technical full-backs, like Leighton Baines, Hector Bellerin and Cesar Azpilicueta, are as comfortable as midfielders on the ball, and contribute to quick, incisive passing moves.
Spurs’ 1-1 draw at Anfield on Saturday evening was a fast, frantic game based around rapid transitions. For all the talk of Jurgen Klopp’s gegenpressing, it is Spurs who excel more in those situations, and therefore it’s not disastrous when possession is lost because Pochettino’s players are very good at recovering it quickly.
Nevertheless, Pochettino wouldn’t have been happy about how many times his full-backs lost possession. Walker ended the game with a pass-completion rate of just 68%, while Rose was involved much more, but only managed 71%. It was some way short of Tottenham’s overall rate of 77%.
Simple explanation
It’s not that Walker and Rose don’t have potential recipients for their passes: it’s simply that they often go astray
There’s no particular reason why these figures should be so low. Yes, Pochettino wants his players to move the ball forward quickly rather than relentlessly retaining possession in the centre of the pitch, but Spurs always shift across the pitch excellently to provide Walker and Rose with passing options.
Even if the winger on the near side is being tightly marked, Dele Alli is clever at varying his position to provide a short passing option into feet, the midfielders move laterally to provide a sideways option, while both centre-backs are comfortable on the ball and capable of switching play when required.
It’s not that Walker and Rose don’t have potential recipients for their passes: it’s simply that they often go astray.
Walker: Average passes per game: 39.6 • Completed: 78.3%
Rose: Average passes per game: 43.9 • Completed: 78.2%
In many games, the full-backs more than compensate for this weakness with their continual overlapping, and both have become better at providing a decisive ball in the final third, too. But against Liverpool, Tottenham’s build-up play could have been better – and with both central midfielders performing well and Alli regularly involved, it’s fair to question the full-backs.
International front
This might also come into play when Roy Hodgson is selecting his England starting XI this summer.
Walker and Rose are probably in pole position, but England will face defensive-minded opponents in the group phase who will look to play on the counter-attack, so the full-backs might not be given as much freedom as this Tottenham pairing is accustomed to.
Quality in possession will be important – and in this respect, Walker and Rose aren’t yet top class.
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